On Monday, the United States and India agreed on a trade deal which, importantly, switches India from a consumer of Russian oil to a consumer of “American” oil. ¹

India is the world’s 4th largest economy, importing 80% of its oil — with about 1/3 of its supply coming from Russia. India was Russia’s second largest consumer behind China, buying about 40% of Russia’s sour crude production. ^{2, 3, 4}

With this new trade agreement, India will likely buy Venezuelan crude through the U.S. The U.S. was already a supplier of crude to India. ⁵

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1. Verma, P. (2026, February 2). U.S. and India seal trade deal after months of diplomatic tensions. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 5, 2026, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/02/02/india-us-trump-trade-deal/ ↩︎
2. Wikipedia contributors. (2026c, January 23). Oil and gas industry in India. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_and_gas_industry_in_India ↩︎
3. Sahai, V. (2025, November 20). The impact of U.S. sanctions and tariffs on India’s Russian oil imports. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2025/11/the-impact-of-us-sanctions-and-tariffs-on-indias-russian-oil-imports ↩︎
4. Mollan, C. (2025, November 21). India’s largest conglomerate stops Russian oil imports amid global pressure. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d911e7nxeo ↩︎
5. Neufeld, D. (2026, September 7). Visualizing India’s Imports of Crude Oil by Country. Visual Capitalist. Retrieved February 5, 2026, from https://www.visualcapitalist.com/indias-imports-of-crude-oil-by-country/ ↩︎